USGIF GotGeoint BlogUSGIF promotes geospatial intelligence tradecraft and a stronger community of interest between government, industry, academia, professional organizations and individuals focused on the development and application of geospatial intelligence to address national security objectives.

April 27, 2018

Since first writing about accelerating world wide initiatives to map underground utilities in 2014 there has been increasing acceleration in the U.S. in technology innovation and development. Motivated by the escalating interest in underground infrastructure detection and mapping, the Common Ground Alliance has inaugurated an annual technology report focussed on subsurface engineering. Entitled Technology Advancements & Gaps in Underground Safety, the report includes an overview of existing underground technology representing a snapshot of damage prevention technology for 2017, new advances in technology and gaps that have been identified in the technology which represent opportunities for research and development. It incorporates the results of an ongoing survey of underground technology based on voluntary submissions by various stakeholders in the underground detection and mapping sector. Submissions can be new hardware or software or an innovative practice using technology. The report includes case studies, articles by groups and organizations working with a new technology. The first report was released that this year's CGA 811 Excavation Safety Conference in Phoenix.